1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to advertising, and more particularly to user-interface advertising enabled through the use of a markup language and/or advertising registry/co-operative.
2. State of the Art
Over the last few years the Internet and e-Commerce have become an important, if not indispensable, part of everyday personal and business life. Because much of the information contained on the Internet is available free of charge, excepting general network access fees, subsidization of free content is often achieved through some form of online advertising. As such, online advertising models and mechanisms are fundamental in the development and evolution of the online environment. The definitions at the web links below, hereby incorporated by reference, provide a brief introduction to many of the important topics related to digital advertising discussed herein.    Ad Banner http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=ad+banner    Affiliate Marketing http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=affiliate+marketing    Affiliate http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=affiliate    AVI http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=AVI    Banner Exchange http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=banner+exchange    Cache http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=cache+or+caching    CGI http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=cgi    Client http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=client    CPA http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=CPA    CPC http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=CPC    CPM http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=CPM    Database http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=database    DHTML http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=DHTML    DRM http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=DRM    Dynamic Rotation http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=dynamic+rotation    e-Commerce http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=e-commerce    Flash http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=flash    GIF Image http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=GIF+or+.gif    Hosting http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=hosting    HTML http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=HTML    HTTP http://webopedia.com/TERM/H/HTTP.html    IAB http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=IAB    Impressions http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=impressions    Interface http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=interface    Internet http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=internet    Interoperability http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=interoperability    Interstitial http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=interstitial    ISO http://webopedia.com/TERM/I/ISO.html    ISOC http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=ISOC    Java http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=java    Javascript http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=javascript    JPG Image http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=JPG+or+.jpg    MAC Address http://webopedia.com/TERM/M/MAC_address.html    MPEG http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=MPEG    Navigation Bar http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=nav+bar+or+navigation+bar    News Reader http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=newsreader    NNTP http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=NNTP    Online Ad http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=online+ad    Operating System http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=operating+system    P2P http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=P2P    PHP http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=PHP    Pixel http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=pixel    Pop-up Ads http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=pop-up+ad    Program http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=program    Proxy http://webopedia.com/TERM/p/proxy_server.html    Publisher http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=publisher    Query String http://webopedia.com/TERM/q/query_string.html    Real Estate http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=real+estate    RSS http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RSS.html    Server http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=server    Session http://webopedia.com/TERM/U/user_session.html    Spam http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=spam    Specifications http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=specifications    Spyware http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=spyware    Standards http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=standard    String http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=string    Surfing http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=surf+or+surfing    Tag http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=tag    Traffic http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=traffic    URL http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=URL    W3C http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=W3C    Web Browser http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=browser    Webmaster http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=webmaster    XML http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=XML
Although the current models of Internet advertising (as described in the definitions above) have reached a certain level of maturity, there are still many limitations and persistent problems. The present invention improves on many of these deficiencies by creating a new online affiliate advertising paradigm, as described further below.